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Tuesday, September 22, 2015

On Sunday, I ran the Girls on the Go 10K at Bonelli in San Dimas. I ran it last year and it was pretty fun. I decided to run it again this year at the last minute. My coach had scheduled a 20-22 miler on Saturday and we decided to go ahead and do that. I ended up doing 20 miles on Saturday so that, plus a hilly course, and a heat wave meant that I went into it not expecting a PR. But my goal was to place in my age group.

Packet pick up was on Saturday and I was pretty proud of myself for not buying anything there! LOL. We got a nice shirt and our bib and that was it. No frills which is fine with me.

I set my alarm for my usual 4 am wake up, got up, ate breakfast, and got ready. I decided to wear my Brave tank & headband since they are teal so I could honor Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. It will be 2 years on Sept 30th that I was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer.

My legs felt pretty good on Sunday morning and I didn't feel too tired so I thought I would do pretty well. It was warm already though (at 7 am) so I just did a short warm up. I didn't want to get overheated before we started! The kids race went off first, so I stopped to watch that and then continued my warm up.

The race went off promptly at 7:15. I had placed myself near the front so I didn't really have a crowd. We started off with an uphill and I may have gone out a little too fast. LOL! I always do. But I don't think I went too crazy. There were probably a dozen people in front of me. We made the turn to follow the lake and went up a little hill and onto some dirt. Then it was a smooth run along the lake until we crossed the stream. Another stretch of dirt here but it was cool under the trees. Right before the 3 mile marker, I was passed by a couple of women. Darn it! And then we had a short out (uphill) and back (yay for downhill). This was a nice section because you could see who was ahead of you and who was behind you. I felt like I was in a good place if I could keep going strong.

After mile 4, I heard footsteps coming up on me and I was passed again! This time by a guy. Doh! But after that, no one did. We had one a big climb, then a good downhill, then a smallish climb and then it was slightly rolling to the end. I feel like I finished strong. There was a woman up ahead of me that I tried to catch but never did. Then I finished! And got my pretty sparkly medal:

I cooled down and talked to one of my Fleet Feet friends for a bit and then saw them put up the results. So I ran over to check them out. Having seen who was in front of me, I thought there was a good chance I would place in my age group...and I did! Woo! Surprise, I was 1st in my age group! Woo hoo!

This is my Age Group medal and the results below.

Not too bad considering I ran this on tired legs! I know that there are a lot of first timers and a lot of women doing it for fun but I'm still happy with this. Woo!

Friday, September 11, 2015

So... in yesterday's Part 1 post, I left off that I'd gone to sleep at 11:15 and had a 3:30 alarm set for Sunday's race. What I didn't tell you was that not only was I only going to get about 4 hours of sleep after spending all day on my feet at California Adventure, but I didn't eat dinner on Saturday night! D'oh!

Yeah, I know. It's just that time got away from us and by the time I realized I should eat, I felt like it was too late and didn't want it to come back to haunt me during the run. I grabbed a chocolate milk and some chips on the way to the hotel and that was my dinner. LOL. I do not recommend this!

But my alarm went off and I got up and got ready to leave. I forgot to mention that I also hadn't planned for breakfast so had nothing but a banana before the race. Seriously, I do not recommend this! But I was as ready as I could be!

I love that my hair is finally long enough to wear pony tails! I was able to make Minnie ears with them and just add the bow and I think it came out pretty well. I loved both outfits I wore this weekend but the Minnie one is definitely my favorite!

I walked over to Disneyland from the hotel (it was about a 20 min walk) and used the restroom in Downtown Disney before heading to the corrals. That's one very nice thing about races here - you don't have to use port-a-potties! I was in Corral A again so made my way over there and got in to wait.

Time flew by and before you know it, they were counting us down and the fireworks went off and we were off! I started out really well. Right on target and I was on target for the first 3 miles. And then I ran out of steam. Sigh. I tried to fight for it but kept getting slower and slower. So I just ran the rest of the race at a comfortable pace and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the race.

I didn't take any pics this time and I wish I had because it's so fun! The character stops while we were inside the parks were Heroes Vs Villains. Once we left the parks, there were ballet folklorico dancer, Hawaiian dancers, bands, cheerleaders, and lots of enthusiastic spectators. We run through the streets of Anaheim out to the Pond where the Ducks play and then over to Angel Stadium. I LOVE running through Angel Stadium! It's so fun! They fill it with boy scout and girl scout troops and you just feel like a rockstar going through there.

Once we leave there, it's just 4 miles back to Disneyland. I mostly tried not to lose any time through here though my right calf tried to cramp on me twice so I walked a little bit. Other than that, the time flew by and before you know it, I was done! I got my half marathon medal and then my Dumbo Double Dare Medal!

Here's better views of the medals:

The half medal is a spinner and not only celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the Half Marathon but Disneyland's 60th Anniversary too. I love it!

And I think the Dumbo medal is very sweet!

Sadly, there was no time to linger after the race. I headed back to the hotel, showered and changed, we got a little something to eat and then headed back to the park for another fun filled day at Disneyland!

I was one tired runner girl at the end of the day! I was a little disappointed in my time and that I didn't get to stop and take pictures during the half but I had a blast so it is all good! I love runDisney races! I love that my family got to come spend the weekend with me there! Max hadn't been since he was 3 and this was the first time he got to ride all the good rides and the first time he went to California Adventure. After every ride, he would say "We have to do this again!". LOL!

Thursday, September 10, 2015

This past weekend, I ran the Dumbo Double Dare at Disneyland. I'd run the Disneyland Half Marathon in 2012 but had not done the Dumbo yet. I figured this would be a great year to do it since it was the 10th Anniversary of the Disneyland Half and also the 60th Anniversary of Disneyland. I had 4 jam packed days of fun! Maybe too much fun!

I took Thursday and Friday off so it was going to be a 5 day weekend for me. I planned to spend the whole day at the parks on Thursday and wanted Friday to rest a little. I was at the expo first thing and picked up my bib and shirts and do a tiny bit of shopping. Well, I may have done a little more shopping than I wanted but I also got some great stuff!

Here are the race shirts for the weekend:

And we also got the luggage tag below. I bought the 10th Anniversary pin for my pin collection and the 10th Anniversary bag was the gift for the 10th Anniversary party. Then I scored these 2 sweet pieces of jewelry from Endure Jewelry. I saw they were in the parks doing give-aways on Wednesday and they still had some for Thursday if you mentioned "Kevin" at their booth. I did and won the 19.3 necklace. Woo! I also treated myself to the bracelet and a couple of beads.

After the expo, I spent the day in both California Adventure and Disneyland, doing a little eating and hanging out with friends.

I love Disney corn dogs!

After the park closed at 9, they had a special 10th Anniversary party for the runners. We were on the west side of the park and there were rides and special characters out. I'm wearing the Chesire Cat hoodie I bought at the expo.

There was also a special viewing of the Paint The Night parade. It was a lot of fun but a LONG day. I didn't get home til 1 am! Friday was a rest day but I did manage to have lunch with RIF #1 Joshua and visit with his family a little.

Carb loading and running talk! When I got home, I started getting packing for the weekend and getting everything ready. I had a hotel room for Saturday and Sunday so had to pack for the rest of the weekend.Then it was time to sleep because I had to get up at 2:45 for Saturday's race!

I didn't sleep very well that night. I never do before a Disney race because I'm so worried about sleeping through my alarm. But I woke up on time, got dressed and headed down to Disneyland. I made it there by 4:15 and finished getting ready.

Ta da! The Mad Hatter! I was ready to have fun!

The start of runDisney races is always fun and this one was no exception. Especially because the theme for this year's 10K was Villains and they took over the race! It was so fun.

There were villains all along the course so of course, I stopped to take pics!

It was such a blast! Before you know it, it was over. Boo! But yeah!

Check out my cool medal!

After that, I cheered a little bit and got something to eat. Then I went back to the car to clean up and change. And then it was park time! My family was meeting me at California Adventure for a day of fun! And it was a lot of fun! Probably too much fun!

I left California Adventure about 9 to go check into the hotel and my family had a little more fun before coming over. I went to sleep about 11:15. I fell asleep right away which was a good thing since I had to set my alarm for 3:30!

About Me

I am an ovarian cancer survivor, runner, an ultrarunner, & a cyclist. I've done 16 marathons, a bunch of half marathons, and 8 ultras (2 12HR races, 5 50Ks, and 1 100K)...so far.
2015 is my year of the PR! It's all about speed and fun!

Why a coyote?

Coyotes pop up periodically in my life-in my dreams and while I'm out running and riding. I think of them as a sign of good things to come. They are are smart, versatile, resourceful, mischievious, playfull, and fast and I hope to utilize all those traits to become the best runner I can be. Besides, chasing "road runners" is fun!